Hebrews 3:9-10

3:9 “There your fathers tested me and tried me, ¹  and they saw my works for forty years.

3:10 “Therefore, I became provoked at that generation and said, ‘Their hearts are always wandering ²  and they have not known my ways.’

Numbers 14:2

14:2 And all the Israelites murmured ³  against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, “If only we had died ⁴  in the land of Egypt, or if only we had perished ⁵  in this wilderness!

Numbers 14:4

14:4 So they said to one another, ⁶  “Let’s appoint ⁷  a leader ⁸  and return ⁹  to Egypt.”

Numbers 26:65

26:65 For the Lord had said of them, “They will surely die in the wilderness.” And there was not left a single man of them, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.

Psalms 78:17

78:17 Yet they continued to sin against him,

and rebelled against the sovereign One ¹⁰  in the desert.

[3:9]  ¹ tn Grk “tested me by trial.”

[3:10]  ² tn Grk “they are wandering in the heart.”

[14:2]  ³ tn The Hebrew verb “to murmur” is לוּן (lun). It is a strong word, signifying far more than complaining or grumbling, as some of the modern translations have it. The word is most often connected to the wilderness experience. It is paralleled in the literature with the word “to rebel.” The murmuring is like a parliamentary vote of no confidence, for they no longer trusted their leaders and wished to choose a new leader and return. This “return to Egypt” becomes a symbol of their lack of faith in the Lord.

[14:2]  ⁴ tn The optative is expressed by לוּ (lu) and then the verb, here the perfect tense מַתְנוּ (matnu) – “O that we had died….” Had they wanted to die in Egypt they should not have cried out to the Lord to deliver them from bondage. Here the people became consumed with the fear and worry of what lay ahead, and in their panic they revealed a lack of trust in God.

[14:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “died.”

[14:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “a man to his brother.”

[14:4]  ⁷ tn The verb is נָתַן (natan, “to give”), but this verb has quite a wide range of meanings in the Bible. Here it must mean “to make,” “to choose,” “to designate” or the like.

[14:4]  ⁸ tn The word “head” (רֹאשׁ, ro’sh) probably refers to a tribal chief who was capable to judge and to lead to war (see J. R. Bartlett, “The Use of the Word רֹאשׁ as a Title in the Old Testament,” VT 19 [1969]: 1-10).

[14:4]  ⁹ tn The form is a cohortative with a vav (ו) prefixed. After the preceding cohortative this could also be interpreted as a purpose or result clause – in order that we may return.

[78:17]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “rebelling [against] the Most High.”